Complex apps “do more.” But they do it at the expense of crashes, and a manual in seven languages. Users use them, they hate them. They’re trapped by some function that no other app has, but that they need.

Take Photoshop for example (please take it!). No other app does RGB/CMYK, and compositing as elegantly. It’s amazing with it’s bezier curve handling and it’s simple yet incredibly powerful layer management. But on awkwardly grafted on top of that are functions like 3D compositing, check-in/check-out, and “share my screen” which nobody uses. These three examples are some of the more egregious, but they’re nowhere near the totality of the list. The whole app is a cruft of duplicative menus, bad help systems, and wanderingly bad UI.

But I still use it. Why? Because those features I need very badly to be good at my job are found nowhere else within a single app. If they were, I would pay not only the (freaking) $700 I normally pay for a license, but I swear on my design career I would pay double. Double.

I would pay double for an app that did the things I need in Photoshop, but did not crash, and did not suck. I want prettiness in a UI. I want logic, and elegance. Like most designers, I love surrounding myself with well-built things. I find joy in interacting with a laptop hinge that slides into place just-so, or a touch screen that actually reacts to my touch.

There are apps like http://www.pixelmator.com/ that I’m dying to use. Gorgeous, well planned, and humanist. But it doesn’t do the things that I absolutely have to have to make the switch. The pain of switching would mean I have to run multiple apps, or keep a copy of CrashyShop on hand for use many times a week. It’s not worth the pain. No matter how much I love beautifully designed things, I have to make a living with my tools, and if anything slows me down even slightly, I’m not going to use it.

So. We have about a million blog articles online today expounding the excellence, and instant success of “simple.” You can even look at our blog to see how we’re devotees of “less.” But I’ll be honest- our most profitable app is our most complex. People pay for functionality if it is done well. People use simple if it is free…

So as developers we’re left with a problem. Feature-rich applications lead to crufty interfaces. It’s not unavoidable, but it’s nearly inevitable. If you’re ever going to launch your app you must (MUST) limit its feature set. But if you’re ever going to make money off your app, you have to keep adding to it.

Gradually, like the ocean tides, you wear down the apprehension of your audience. Keep beating the drum. Keep enticing people who have tried it once before to try once again. Eventually the feature that kept them from sticking before will be the one you just added. But the game is to do it well. To do it smartly. To add features without adding complexity.

We are not experts on the subject, but we’re cracking every book, blog, and beer we can to try to get to the bottom of it. Every new feature brings the chance to add new users, and alienate old ones… It’s the way you add it that makes the difference between winning or losing users.

What you include, and likewise, what you actively choose not to include is what becomes part of you. Being able to do so while being consistent with what you know to be true is the intersection between conviction and risk. And that won the crown every time.” – from Bobulate.

She nailed it.

We can’t just throw ingredients into the mix without first analyzing why they should be there in the first place. It’s careless. Why would we do that with our apps’ features?

The shop I want.
This article cuts to the heart of ecommerce better than all the old “long tail” articles ever did. The real problem of online retail is how to take a commodity and make it precious. When everything is mass produced, and can be shipped anywhere cheaply you have only two options. Carry exclusive products, or curate your product selection so that people rely on your opinion. No more coasting. Having the product is not enough anymore.

A new bank.
There is a lot of money to be made in simplifying people’s lives. Apple knows it. Netflix knows it. Zappos knows it. One day the entrenched institutions of this world will feel the pressure consumers can exert. Telephone companies, cable companies, TV stations, book publishers, and newspapers are all starting to feel the pinch. Consumers are no longer powerless, and any industry that is baking in a long stewed soup of apathy to consumer needs is in for a wakeup. Banks- you are on the list.

Is less more complicated?
Even though the Humane Interface made me want to take a nap really bad, I loved it. Aza has his dad’s gift for cutting through garbage, and seeing the way interaction really works. This article is superficially about the standard one button garage door opener. But it’s about a whole lot more… (I think the ideal solution is a slider like on the iPhone home screen.)

We continue to make updates as the internet, and our users evolve, but we’re stubborn in a big way: we’re sticking with simplicity. We feel this mentality is what makes our apps useful to the majority of our users in the first place.

Our core values revolve around eliminating the things that might distract you from what you’re really trying to do. With Jumpchart, you get to focus on architecture and content. With Staction, you get to focus on communicating quickly and succinctly while staying organized. With Paprika… well, stay tuned (Or be one of our beta users!).

We love hearing from our users. We learn a lot from the feature requests we get, and take each and every one of them into consideration for future updates. But at our core, we’re willing to hold off adding extra features to save compromising the simplicity we’ve built our apps around.